For he is superstitious grown of late; Dec. Never fear that. If he be so resolved, For I can give his humour the true bent, Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. Bru. By the eighth hour: is that the uttermost? Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard, Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey : I wonder none of you have thought of him. Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him. He loves me well, and I have given him reasons: Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. Cas. The morning comes upon us. We'll leave you, Brutus : And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember What you have said, and shew yourselves true Romans. Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily: Let not our looks put on our purposes: But bear it, as our Roman actors do, With untired spirits and formal constancy : And so, good-morrow to you every one. [Exeunt all but BRUTUS. Boy: Lucius!-Fast asleep! It is no matter: Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber. Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, Which busy care draws in the brains of men : Therefore thou sleep'st so sound. You stared upon me with ungentle looks: And too impatiently stamped with your foot: Por. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health He would embrace the means to come by it. Bru. Why, so I do.-Good Portia, go to bed. Por. Is Brutus sick; and is it physical To walk unbracéd, and suck up the humours Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick; And will he steal out of his wholesome bed To dare the vile contagion of the night, And tempt the rheumy and unpurgéd air To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus; You have some sick offence within your mind, Which, by the right and virtue of my place, I ought to know of: and upon my knees I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, By all your vows of love, and that great vow Which did incorporate and make us one, That you unfold to me,-yourself, your half,— Why you are heavy; and what men to-night Have had resort to you: for here have been Some six or seven, who did hide their faces Even from darkness. Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Bru. You are my true and honourable wife: Por. If this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman; but withal Tell me your counsels; I will not disclose them: Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience, Bru. Render me worthy of this noble wife! [Knocking within. Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.— Boy, stand aside.-Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good-morrow from a feeble tongue. Bru. O what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, To wear a kerchief! 'Would you were not sick. Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour. Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome! Brave son, derived from honourable loins! Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible; Yea, get the better of them. What's to do? Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men whole. Lig. But are not some whole that we must SCENE II.-The same. A Room in CESAR'S Palace. Thunder and lightning. Enter CESAR, in his night-gown. Cæs. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night: Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out, "Help, ho! they murder Cæsar!"-Who's within? Enter a Servant. Serv. My lord? Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? Think you to walk forth? You shall not stir out of your house to-day. Cæs. Cæsar shall forth. The things that threatened me Ne'er looked but on my back: when they shall see The face of Cæsar, they are vanished. Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies; Yet now they fright me. There is one within (Besides the things that we have heard and seen) Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelpéd in the streets; And graves have yawned and yielded up their dead: Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, The noise of battle hurtled in the air; Cæs. What can be avoided, Cal. When beggars die there are no comets seen: The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Cæs. Cowards die many times before their deaths: The valiant never taste of death but once. Seeing that death, a necessary end, Re-enter Servant. [Exeunt. What say the augurers? Serv. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, Here's Decius Brutus: he shall tell them so. Dec. Cæsar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy Cæsar: I come to fetch you to the senate-honse. Cæs. And you are come in very happy time, To bear my greeting to the senators, And tell them that I will not come to-day. Cannot is false; and that I dare not, falser. I will not come to-day: tell them so, Decius. Cal. Say he is sick. Cæs. Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far, To be afeard to tell greybeards the truth? Decius, go tell them Cæsar will not come. Dec. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know some cause, Shall Cæsar send a lie? Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so. Did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it. And know it now:-the senate have concluded Apt to be rendered, for some one to say, Pardon me, Cæsar: for my dear, dear love Cæs. How foolish do your fears seem now, I am ashamed I did yield to them.— Bru. Cæsar, 't is strucken eight. See! Antony, that revels long o' nights, I am to blame to be thus waited for.- Cæs. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me; And we, like friends, will straightway go together. Bru. That every like is not the same, O Cæsar, The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon! [Exeunt. Por. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards him? Sooth. None that I know will be; much that Good-morrow to you. Here the street is narrow : The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise ! And bring me word what he doth say to thee. [Exeunt. |